Does the show's staff hate Amy?

[on:]

Is it just me, or the show's staff seem to really hate, or at least overlook, Amy. I mean they barely talk about her in the commentaries even if it's an Amy-centric episode, they barely used her in 4ACV eps. which is sad since she was a fairly big part of the 3ACV season, and she wasn't in the game.

[Reply #1 on:]

Maybe Amy represents all of the teenage and sorority hotties who laughed at and rejected them in their formative years.

[Reply #2 on:]

What's with all these pointless threads? You start a bunch and then you stop for a couple of weeks and then you start up again. You're reading way to much into these things. I mean what's next? "What's with Leela's apartment"? "Why are Zoidburg's eyes blue"? You're really reaching for topics.

[Reply #3 on:]

I always though these boards were for talking about all this nerdy stuff where we over analyize stuff, heck we're nerds....

[Reply #4 on:]

Well, Amy doesn't have a huge part in a lot of the episodes.  It doesn't help that Lauren Tom ins't in the commentary booth, either.  Naturally, John DiMaggio will talk about John DiMaggio, Billy West will talk about Billy West, etc.  No one's representin' Amy.

[Reply #5 on:]

Lqs has a good point ... it's logical.  But think about this ... they made Amy really cute, gave her a small nose, and the writing doesn't make fun of her.  Leela, on the other hand (who, for the record, I find more attractive) got a big nose, and the writing was frequently mean to her.  They made up for that by giving her more attention in the commentary, and they made up for Amy's extra cuteness by paying less attention to her in the commentaries.

[Reply #6 on:]

 

Originally posted by Zipy_Googlemire:
I always though these boards were for talking about all this nerdy stuff where we over analyize stuff, heck we're nerds....

there's over analyzing and then there's over over analyzing.

[Reply #7 on:]

 

Originally posted by Venus:
What's with all these pointless threads? You start a bunch and then you stop for a couple of weeks and then you start up again. You're reading way to much into these things. I mean what's next? "What's with Leela's apartment"? "Why are Zoidburg's eyes blue"? You're really reaching for topics.

Sorry, Amy being overlooked is something that bothers me, as I'm a big Amy fan (I'm also a big Leela fan) and it's something I need to get off my chest. Where's Teral when you need him?

[Reply #8 on:]

Leela sures hates her. I don't know anybody else though.

[Reply #9 on:]

Maybe the commentary staff can't think of anything interesting to say about her; she seems pretty one-dimensional to me, at leat until the fourth series when her relationship with Kif really kicks off.

[Reply #10 on:]

 

Originally posted by John Pannozzi:
Is it just me, or the show's staff seem to really hate, or at least overlook, Amy. I mean they barely talk about her in the commentaries even if it's an Amy-centric episode, they barely used her in 4ACV eps. which is sad since she was a fairly big part of the 3ACV season, and she wasn't in the game.

Yes, the staff really loathes her. In fact one of the dark secrets of Futurama is how Lauren Tom was virtually ostracized from the set by a tightly nit clique of writers, directors and voice cast who harboured a badly concealed hatred for everything connected with the Martian intern. You wont find any evidence of this on fansites though, becasue they're all in on the conspiracy too, and, yes, that even includes ANSTATMAW! I'm probably gonna be kicked out of TLZ for saying this, but I can't keep this horrible secret anymore. It's eating me up inside! The truth will set me free!!

Okay, now onto something more reliable. Face it John, Amy is a supporting character. Fry, Leela and Bender are the main focus of Futurama, with the rest of Planet Express, Zapp, Kif and Nixon as supporting characters. Then you have recurring characters like Morbo, Linda, Elzar, etc. and finally at the bottum irregular characters. Amy isn't being overlooked, she's fulfilling exactly the role she was created for. She had a few episodes centered on her, a couple of running jokes, a plotline (her relationship with Kif (and it came at the expence of destroying Kif as a sarchastic, competent sidekick for Zapp  )), etc. Averall I'd say she did pretty well, had about the same screen time as Zoidberg and Hermes, and only a smidge less than Farnsworth. Don't believe me? Then look at this handy character possesion chart put together by the guys over at WEFNZ. While it doesn't cover the entire run, a third of the episodes is a good indicator.

Buttom line: the "Amy is ignored and forgotten" theory is a myth.

As for commentaries, evan and Hedonism Bot pretty much nailed it. Though West talk about Amy 4 or 5 times.

 

Originally posted by Cyberman:
Leela sures hates her.

Not really. There might have been a short period in the 2ACV run, where Leela had a bit of antipathy for Amy, but mostly I see their relationship as one of sibling rivalry and friendly banter/teasing. Workplace banter are pretty common, and many of the Leela/Amy oneliners would fall under that cathegory.

[Reply #11 on:]

 

Originally posted by Zoidberg227:
Lqs has a good point ... it's logical.  But think about this ... they made Amy really cute, gave her a small nose, and the writing doesn't make fun of her.  Leela, on the other hand (who, for the record, I find more attractive) got a big nose, and the writing was frequently mean to her.  They made up for that by giving her more attention in the commentary, and they made up for Amy's extra cuteness by paying less attention to her in the commentaries.

I disagree. They also barely talk about Leela on the commentaries as well, All they say about her is that she is the typical sci-fi babe but with 1 eye and a big nose. They don't go into detail about her best feature: her personality. They about Bender and Zoidberg and Nibbler quite a bit though, and on the Simpsons commentaries they talked quite a bit about Maggie, who is about as important a character as Amy.

[Reply #12 on:]

 

Originally posted by John Pannozzi:
 Sorry, Amy being overlooked is something that bothers me, as I'm a big Amy fan (I'm also a big Leela fan) and it's something I need to get off my chest. Where's Teral when you need him?

Fucking christ John, do you ever quit? I mean, Teral showed up and said everything that could be said, but I don't see why this thread needed to be made. Personal feelings on such a narrow subject are not topic worthy.

[Reply #13 on:]

Was there ever an Amy-centric episode? If so, someone please tell me.

From what I can remember, the only characters to have their own episodes were Fry, Leela, Bender, and Zoidberg. (Hermes only had one, and that wasn't even focused much on him. Professor never had one, and Amy never had one. Unless of course, I am forgetting something.)

[Reply #14 on:]

Put your head on my shoulders and Where the buggalo roam (and to an extend Kif gets knocked up a notch) were about Amy (and relationships...Fry/Kif)

[Reply #15 on:]

"How Hermes Requisitioned his Groove Back" didn't focus much on Hermes?  It was named after Hermes!  Granted, part of the storyline had to do with Morgan and Fry (and getting Bender's brain back), but they had to involve the others--we couldn't just sit there staring at Hermes for 22 minutes.

Well, we could, but then we'd probably start getting a contact buzz and/or the munchies.

[Reply #16 on:]

It started off focused on Hermes, but Fry gradually stole the limelight.

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Amy's been in the A-story for numerous episodes: "Put Your Head on My Shoulders," "Where the Buggalo Roam," "Amazon Women in the Mood," (which I Amy has a huge part in), "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," etc.  Plus, she had her own continuous storyline throughout seasons 3 and 4.  The only other characters to have an actual storyline continue for more than one season are Fry (his love for Leela) and Leela (where her parents came from).

[Reply #18 on:]

I don't think they hate Amy. She is just not one of the major characters. That's all. The 3 major characters are supposed to be fry bender and Leela. So naturally they get more screen time than Amy and the rest.